With a yell of frustration Steven runs up the ramp, prompting the boulder to be pushed back as well. He chased the boulder all the way back up to the statue's mouth, in which you promptly chased after him up the ramp.

Upon entering the mouth, you both come out atop the faux dungeon course, which was a massive rectangular prism that was over a deep, black void. Here, you got a clear view of the entire set-up. It almost reminded you of a game glitch with how everything was just suspended above the pseudo dungeon; from the pendulum blades to the spiked block, all of which only moved with you were in close proximity. Slowly, you came to the end of the prism.

My stars. You had to wonder how much time they spent on this.

"I... can't believe it." Steven said slowly in devastation at the scam. He groaned out loud, putting a hand up to his head in frustrated hurt. "It won't be easy. Good luck, you're gonna need it." Steven bitterly repeated the gem's parting words to him. "How am I supposed to prove myself if they keep-"

"Steven has no need to prove himself."

Steven flinched at the tense tone in your voice and looked up at you. You stared at the beam silently before closing your eyes and letting out a deep sigh, turning your head to look at him with a stern expression. "Steven never needed to prove himself. He already has many achievements that make him worthy with or without a test."

Steven's face crumpled a bit with timidity and found himself shrinking back a bit from your serious expression, averting his gaze as he tried to think of a response. "I-I mean, I know... but I--"

"No buts, mister." You interrupted him, lifting a finger in a scolding manner, before lightly booping his nose. "(Name) may not have been there for all of Steven's escapades, but what she has seen and heard Steven go through makes Steven a very capable and very brave crystal gem."

He was quiet for a moment, his face softening as he pondered your words. But then he sighed, taking your paw into both his hands, pushing it away from him as he turned his head and looked to the ground, avoiding your gaze. "I know, I guess... but I just... want to hear that from--"

"What's taking them so long?"

You both suddenly heard a voice near the end of the prism. It sounded like Amethyst's voice.

"Beats me. I'd think they'd figure it out by now." You heard Spinel's voice reply.

Curious, you both wandered over towards the edge of the prism with Steven kneeling down beside you and you crouching down as you peered off the edge of the prism.

At the end of the course, there was a large platform decorated in a massive cluster of star balloons with a manner reading 'Congratulations" in cursive writing. Standing beneath the display were the four gems in question, apparently waiting for you both to emerge.

"I didn't think mine was very difficult." Pearl noted worriedly. "Do you think he hurt himself?"

"There's no way." Garnet assured her calmly. "It's impossible for him to fail."

Spinel scoffed as Amethyst groaned out loud.

"Where's the fun in that?" Spinel pouted with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, what's the point?" Amethyst asked in annoyance.

"The point is that he's come far." Pearl explained, almost matter-of-factly. "He can make Rose's bubble! And he's pulled out Rose's shield twice."

"Three times," Garnet corrected. "Counting the time me and him first encountered (Name)."

"Ah, right. Well, nevertheless, he's lost his healing powers. We have to give him another success." Pearl continues on. "He can't lose his confidence like that again."

There was a beat of silence as Pearl's explanation sunk in, and you just knit your brow, unsure of how to take the information.

Wow... this is... quite an elaborate scheme to make him feel achieved? You couldn't tell if you should be angry, disappointed or impressed with the whole thing.

After a moment, you let out a half-hearted chuckle. "Well... that settles it then. See? Perfectly capable." You turned to Steven and lightly ruffled his hair. "Feel better?"

Steven hesitated, but gave a small skittish smile. "I guess so..."

You smiled, then pushed yourself up, shaking yourself off. "Right then. Come on. It's almost time for dinner. (Name) will be waiting near the boulder."

As Steven watched you make your way back, he heard Spinel's annoyed voice speak.

"...you guys are bad at this."

"What!?" Pearl turned to Spinel, who stood annoyed, with her arms crossed in disapproval.

"It's true! Ya thinkin' ya know what you're doin' when really, half the time ya don't!" Spinel said sternly.

"Yeah!" Amethyst agreed. "You can't control him, and he shouldn't be taking advice from me, and we don't have Rose to tell us what to do!"

"But he needs us to show him how to be a Gem!" Pearl insisted.

"Steven is not just a Gem. There has never been anything or anyone like Steven." Garnet corrects her. "We don't know what he needs."

There was another moment of silence as Steven sat, mulling the Gem's words over.

"...well, if we don't know any of that stuff, how come (Name) does?" Spinel asked, raising her brow.

"...we don't know yet." Garnet said after a pause. "But at this point that doesn't matter now. What we need to focus on now is trying to learn from her. If we let her lead us, we can learn to be better for Steven. And maybe even be better crystal gems."

"And to keep her from spazzing out so much." Amethyst added, prompting spinel and pearl to glare in disapproval.

"...and maybe discover who she was." Pearl added tentatively.

"Either way, we have to trust her." Garnet stated with an air of finality.

"She's the closest thing we have to Rose's guidance."

There was a beat of silence.

"...she's pretty much the closest thing we have to Rose in general." Amethyst muttered. "...Minus the spazz-iness."

Pearl opened her mouth, as if she wanted to protest but slowly faltered, and gave a soft sigh, looking to the ground wistfully.

Back over at the other end of the test course, you let out a deep sigh, bringing a paw up to you face and pinching the bridge of your nose as you pondered over the whole ordeal.

You didn't know how to feel about the whole thing; on one hand, you found the gesture to be sweet, if not a bit over-the-top but at the same time, it was all so convincing that it got you all worked up over it to the point it actually physically hurt.

"Ugh."

What would Rose have done in this situation?

"(Name)?"

You turned to find Steven approaching you, looking oddly humble.

"Steven? Ready to go?" You asked, rising to your paws and hooves.

He nodded, a self-assured smile spreading on his face. "Yeah. Come on."

He gestures for you to follow him, and at once he reenters the dungeon, this time walking with a calm and confident stride through all three rooms, not paying any attention to the fake obstacles that went through him, as you walked behind him, unsure of what he'll do once he confronts the gems again.

He finally made it to the last door once again and pushed it open, revealing a dark passage way.

At once, a pathway of lights illuminate, revealing the celebratory scene along with fireworks as the Gems start clapping upon Steven's arrival. Steven, still looking down, walks up to the Gems with you following a few paces behind.

"Congratulations." Garnet said in a notably bright voice.

"Congratulations, Steven!" Pearl exclaimed cheerfully.

"Way to go, Stevie!" Spinel gave a thumbs up.

"Yeaaah, congrats little man!" Amethyst cheered.

Steven, still looking down, walks up to the Gems as they cheered and praised him and suddenly fell to his knees before them, as you sat down just behind him.

"Thank goodness you made it!" Pearl smiled, before faltering nervously. "How did it... go?"

"I can't believe you guys." Steven muttered, seemingly upset. "That was so ...insane!"

Uhm? You were a bit surprised by the shift in tones, as he suddenly perked up with the brightest smile he could conjure.

"Where do I even begin? Man, you should have seen me. That boulder was coming at me and I just jumped for it. And then the tiles were going like Bing, bong, bing and I was like I see what's going on here. And I thought there's no way I could have been ready for all that fire and lava and spikes but I did it! I really... did it."

After he finished rambling, he paused before suddenly looking back at you. "Right (Name)? You saw me! Wasn't that incredible?"

You stared silently for a few seconds, your gaze flickering to the gems, who seemed a bit nervous as they awaited your response, and back to Steven.

"...Very well put together." You said calmly after an extensive pause. "Good job, gems."

The three gems smiled especially wide at this, even letting out a sigh of relief, as if they were holding their breaths.

"I... You guys are the best. Thank you so much for doing this for me." Steven smiled gratefully at the gems. "This was just what I needed."

"Oh, Steven." Pearl smiled.

"Aw, shucks, guy.' Amethyst grinned.

Garnet just hummed as they all stepped forward one by one to give Steven a hug, while spinel just wrapped her elastic arms around all of you, pulling you close.

"I'm so proud of you." Pearl praised gently.

"Yeah, you da man!" Amethyst exclaimed gleefully.

"I knew you could do it." Garnet assured.

Steven smiles and embraces the Gems tightly, while you and Spinel discreetly exchanged knowing glances between each other.
~~~~~~~~~~

This was a bit longer than I wanted it to be, but I wanted to get this episode in as few pages as possible.

I gotta stop dragging them out, ya know?